NEW YORK (AP) — An 8-year-old boy’s victory as New York state chess champion will be his family’s ticket out of a homeless shelter.
The New York Times reported that Tani Adewumi won the state chess title for his age group this month even though he learned to play only about a year ago.
Tani and his family have lived in a New York City shelter since fleeing Nigeria in 2017. The Christian family feared attacks by the militant group Boko Haram.
Tani’s chess coach Russell Makofsky (muh-KAHF’-skee) set up a GoFundMe account for the family after Tani won the championship.
